{"id":304,"date":"2013-07-13T01:27:13","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=304"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:27:13","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:27:13","slug":"116-the-awakening-of-gujerat-vol-01-bande-mataram-volume-01","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/01-bande-mataram-volume-01\/116-the-awakening-of-gujerat-vol-01-bande-mataram-volume-01","title":{"rendered":"-116_The Awakening of Gujerat.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n

\nThe Awakening of Gujerat<\/b><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n 
\n<\/font>             
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>W<\/font><\/span>HEN<\/font><\/b>
\n <\/span>
\nthe word of the Eternal has gone abroad, when the spirit moves over the waters
\nand the waters stir and life begins to form, then it is a law that all energies
\nare forced to direct themselves, consciously or unconsciously, willingly or
\nagainst their will, to the one supreme work of the time, the formation of the
\nnew manifest and organised life which is in process of creation. So now when the
\nwaters of a people’s life are stirred and the formation of a great organic
\nIndian state and nation has begun, the same law holds. All that the adversaries
\nof the movement have done whether they have tried to repress or tried to
\nconciliate, has helped what they sought to destroy and swelled the volume and
\nstrength or purified as by fire the forces of Nationalism. So also the efforts
\nof those among our-selves who are afraid of the new movement or distrustful of
\nit to check the pace and bring back the nation’s energies into the old grooves,
\nhave only helped to increase the vehemence of the National desire to move
\nforward. When Sir Pherozshah Mehta juggled the Congress into Surat, he thought
\nhe was preparing a death-blow for Nationalism: he was only preparing the way for
\na Nationalist awakening in Gujerat. Nationalism depends for its success on the
\nawakening and organising of the whole strength of the nation; it is therefore
\nvitally important for Nationalism that the politically backward classes should
\nbe awakened and brought into the current of political life; the great mass of
\northodox Hinduism which was hardly even touched by the old Congress movement,
\nthe great slumbering mass of Islam which has remained politically inert
\nthroughout the last century, the shopkeepers, the artisan class, the immense
\nbody of illiterate and ignorant peasantry, the submerged classes, even the wild
\ntribes and races still outside the pale of Hindu civilisation, Nationalism can
\nafford to neglect and omit none. It rejoices to see any sign of
\nlife<\/span>
\nwhere there was no life before, even if the first manifestations <\/span>should
\nseem to be ill-regulated or misguided. It is not afraid of<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-644<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n

Pan-Islamism
\nor any signs of the growth of a separate Mahomedan self-consciousness but rather
\nwelcomes them. It is not startled by the spectacle of a submerged class like the
\nNamasudras demanding things which are, under existing circumstances,
\nimpracticable from Hindu society. When a community sues for separate rights from
\nthe bureaucracy, that is a sign not of life but of stagnant dependence which is
\ndeath, but when it seeks a larger place in the national existence and it tries
\nto feel its own existence and its own strength, it is a true sign of life, and
\nwhat Nationalism asks is for life first and above all things; life, and still
\nmore life, is its cry. Let us by every means get rid of the pall of death which
\nstifled us, let us dispel first the passivity, quiescence, the unspeakable
\noppression of inertia which has so long been our curse; that is the first and
\nimperative need. As with backward communities, so with backward provinces. It is
\nvitally important to Nationalism that these should awake. Behar, Orissa, the
\nCentral Provinces, Gujerat, Sindh must take their place in the advancing surge
\nof Indian political life, must prepare themselves for a high rank in the future
\nfederated strength of India. We welcome any signs that the awakening has begun.
\nIt is for instance a cause of gratification that Orissa is beginning to feel its
\nseparate consciousness, and to attempt to grow into an organised life under a
\ncapable and high-spirited leader, although we consider his political attitude
\nmistaken and believe that he is laying up for himself bitter disappointment and
\ndisillusionment in the future. But when the inevitable disappointment and
\ndisillusionment come, then will the new political consciousness, the new
\norganised life of Orissa become an immense addition of strength to the forces of
\nNationalism. Yet it remains true that the only way these provinces can make up
\nfor lost time and bring themselves up swiftly to the level of the more
\nadvanced races, is by throwing themselves whole-heartedly into the full tide of
\nNationalism, and we do not know that we ought not to thank Sir Pherozshah for
\ngiving us a unique chance to light the fire in Gujerat.<\/font><\/p>\n

           
\n<\/span>The Gujeratis have only recently been touched by the tide of political
\nlife. Largely split up into Native States, large and small, and only partially
\nunder the direct rule of the bureaucracy,<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-645<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n

immersed
\nin commerce and fairly prosperous until the last great famine swept over the
\nonce smiling and fertile province destroying life, human and animal, by the
\nmillion they had slumbered politically while the rest of India was accustoming
\nitself to some kind of political activity. It was at the Ahmedabad Congress that
\nGujerat was for the first time moved to a political enthusiasm, an awakening
\nperhaps helped on by the association of a thoroughly Swadeshi Exhibition with
\nthe session of the Congress and the inclusion, however timid and half-hearted,
\nof industrial revival in our political programme. Then came the outburst of the
\nSwadeshi by which Gujerat, unlike some of the other politically backward
\nprovinces, was profoundly affected. The ground has been prepared and Nationalist
\nsentiment has already spread among the educated Gujeratis. The Surat Congress
\nprovides an opportunity to give a fresh and victorious impulse which will make
\nGujerat Nationalism a powerful working and organised force. The importance of
\nwinning Gujerat to the Nationalist cause is great. The Gujeratis labour as the
\nBengalis did, until the present awakening, under a reproach of timidity and
\nexcessive love of peace and safety. The truth probably is that so far as the
\nreproach has any foundation either in Bengal or Gujerat the defect was due not
\nso much to any constitutional cowardice as to indolence born of climate and a
\ntoo fertile soil and to the prevalence of the peaceful and emotional religion of
\nChaitanya and Vallabhacharya. Be that as it may, Bengal under the awakening
\ntouch of Nationalism has wiped out that reproach for ever and there is no reason
\nwhy Gujerat, stirred by the same influences, awakened to the same energy, should
\nnot emulate her example and take like her a foremost place in the battle of
\nSwaraj. We must not forget that she also has great traditions of old, traditions
\nof learning, traditions of religion, traditions of
\ncourage
\nand heroism. Gujerat was once part of the Rajput <\/span>circle
\nand her princes fought on equal terms with Mahmud of Ghazni. Her people form
\nvaluable and indispensable material for the building of the Indian nation. The
\nsavoir-faire<\/i>,
\n<\/i>the keen-witted ability and political instinct of her Brahmins, the thrift
\nand industry of her merchants, the robust vigour and common sense of her
\nPatidars, the physique and soldierly qualities of her<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-646<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n

Kathis and Rajputs, the strong raw human material of her
\nnorthern and southern hills, are so many elements of strength which Nationalism
\nmust seize and weld into a great national force. Even if Sir Pherozshah Mehta
\noverwhelms us with numbers at Surat, even if we cannot carry a single
\nproposition in the Congress Pandal, yet if we can give this great impulse to
\nGujerat and organise our scattered forces for a great march forward, all the
\nenergy, all the expenditure we can devote to this session at Surat will be amply
\nrewarded. It is not merely or chiefly by victories in the Congress but by
\nvictories in the country that we must record the progress of Nationalism.<\/p>\n


\nBande
\nMataram<\/i>, <\/i><\/font>December 17, 1907<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-647<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Awakening of Gujerat                   WHEN the word of the Eternal has gone abroad, when the spirit moves over the waters and the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-01-bande-mataram-volume-01","wpcat-8-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}